Figure 5. The RemoteCare analyst leveraged data from the MineCare system to generate a report for the site’s maintenance technicians, which identified a drop in the engine’s coolant pressure below the allowable and configurable threshold.
The RemoteCare analyst immediately leveraged the MineCare system’s real-time and trend monitoring capabilities to diagnose a potential failure in the truck’s temperature sensors. In addition to producing both OEM-generated and custom, user-defined alarms to help miners identify potential component abnormalities, the system enables the mine’s maintenance department to prioritize necessary maintenance activities based on component condition criticality.
By scheduling lesser-severe component repair or replacement needs for a more opportune time, the mine can favorably shift their ratio of planned-to-unplanned maintenance to enable a more proactive maintenance approach.
Conversely, an equipment unit that triggers a more critical alarm can be removed from the circuit and assigned for immediate repair to prevent damage to other components. Recognizing that a temperature sensor malfunction is a lesser-critical alarm, and therefore did not yet require immediate attention, the analyst recommended an inspection during the next scheduled maintenance cycle.
When the truck was sent to the maintenance bay a few days later for its scheduled maintenance, crews confirmed the damaged temperature sensor; after replacing the sensor, the truck was returned to the haul cycle and its exhaust temperatures recovered.